Book Review: An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim 4 of 5 stars!

 BOOK REVIEW: An Ocean of Minutes  by Thea Lim  4/5 stars 

      
   As part of my 2025 theme of Oceans/Water, I picked up this book from 2018 - which reads as if it was published post Pandemic!  

Spoiler alert- there is really no ocean or water involvement, and this is sometimes how it goes, my yearly themes are broad and allow for sort of "fails"  this book however, doesn't fail. 

   This is a science fiction, time travel ,dystopian novel  which explores relationships, the meaning of home, as well as race/class issues.  To me it is a classic "you can't go home again" story. 

We meet a very ordinary couple, Frank and Polly as they vacation in Galveston Texas. Frank contracts a deadly virus and Polly decides in a rushed fashion to sign a contract with a time travel company so Frank can get the treatment. They romantically vow to meet up at a hotel landmark when 12 years have passed. 

As one might imaging, things do not go exactly as planned. 

Polly is rerouted to a different year but her protected status as a skilled worked seems to have her believing that things will be alright, she moves along in her job as she attempts to locate Frank but things seem to go from bad to worse, and she is demoted to a lower status, extending her time of service to the company.  She continues her search for Frank, however which gives her gives her a deep focus.  Around her others are also looking for relatives in similar fashion.  Communication is fraught with difficulty and deceit and honestly it was entirely reminiscent of a current day refugee camp.  (I have never lived in a refugee camp but my job has taken me to a few and I really felt it as I moved through this book).  People all want to locate family, they don't all have correct information, finding information may have a large financial or human cost, and even after expending the effort, the result may be fruitless. 

Polly indeed is reunited with Frank after some thought provoking adventures- but is it the reunion she always imagined?  Well- you 'll need to read to find out. 

Overall  this was a really unique, and interesting story.  I did not particularly like Frank or Polly- and found them to be just...a little dull, but I forgive the author that, because it was after all a tale of the everyday person. I did knock it down one entire start for a vague ending that hints and hopes for a positive outcome but stubbornly refused to commit. (not even an epilogue!) 

Great Book club book  as it supports both tough thought provoking questions  about immigration, class, and wealth inequalities, and also some fun ones, such as- which year would you want to visit if time travel were to become a regular occurrence. 

Have you read this book?  Let me know you thoughts in the comments!  Which year would you visit?  I think after reading this, I probably would avoid even travelling one week forward or backwards!